Monday, April 24, 2006

I recently stumbled across this article from John D Barrow or Cambridge University.

Creationists and ID proponents frequently claim that science flies in the face of religion. Various officials (such as Steve Abrams) have even been known to say that people should have to choose one or the other. However, this bit of insanity is refuted by such things as the Clergy Letter Project.

But this compatibility of science and faith is the topic about which Barrow writes. His article is wonderfully summed up by saying:

In all the science we pursue we are used to seeing progress. Our first attempts to grasp the laws of nature are often incomplete. So, in our religious conceptions of the Universe, we also use approximations and analogies to have some grasp of ultimate things. They are not the whole truth but this does not stop them being a part of the truth: a shadow that is cast in a limiting situation of some simplicity.

Although I do not feel that there are magical metaphysical realms with omnipotent dieties, I freely admit that if there is, science is unable to comment on them in any regard. This is where faith is irreplacable and truly belongs. It need not shove itself into the "gaps", because it already occupies in important position in our lives: on the other side of the coin.